Sorry for the extreme radio silence… it’s been a bit mad over here, trying to finish up projects and make the mental leap of moving away. Lots of people have been asking me: “So what do you want to make sure you see/ do before you leave Berlin?”
I don’t have a good answer, because I’ve been a terrible tourist (Neferti? I suppose?) but also because my favorite things – in Berlin, Nelson, Seattle, wherever – have usually been unsought and half the fun is in the surprise. Sometimes the surprise is pleasant, sometimes less so.
So it was with a bit of trepidation that I bicycled myself down to a Neukölln art gallery space for a poetry reading/ sound installation night. Poetry is risky enough – something about the short format and emotional content inspires all sorts of horrors – but I also approach the word ‘installation’ with wariness.
To my delight, it was actually very good. (I don’t mean to sound so surprised, but as I said, half the fun is the surprise.) The poetry was, on the whole, not too damn bad and there was a live band afterwards.
A live band! In Berlin! I know, it’s supposed to have this amazing music scene, but I’ve actually found real live musical instruments to be rare on the ground. DJ’s, yes. You can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a DJ, but I haven’t seen a guitar in months. Anyways, I hope these guys make it big, so that later I can say, “Yeah, I saw them when they were still playing little art galleries in Berlin.” (Very nonchalantly, of course). It’s a bit 80’s, in a good way – think Ladyhawke – with awesome vocals and a really energetic show. I did chuckle when they played the same song twice; it usually means a band only has 4 or 5 songs that they play well enough for public consumption, and are hoping the audience won’t notice. There were some technical guff-ups too, but I think they’re fairly new. To that end, unfortunately, I can’t point you to an album or an EP, but here is their soundcloud link: https://soundcloud.com/balletschool
